Legend in Turkey

He is known with his epic poems during the Jelali revolts as a rebel whose father blinded by the landowner of Bolu, Bolu Beyi. According to the Turkish legend, Bolu Beyi asked Köroğlu’s father a horse and he thinks that the horse is not good enough for him and he punished Köroğlu’s father.

Legend in Azerbaijan

In Azerbaijan, Koroğlu is believed to be the son of a mother who conceived by the light and who killed by burying alive. Koroğlu can remain alive by coming to his mother’s grave and whom breastfeed by his death mother.

About

He was one of the leaders of Jelali revolts. Peasant movements flared up in several regions of Turkey and Azerbaijan In mid-16th and 17th centuries. Koroghlu one of the leaders of Jelali groups in Azerbaijan. Rumor has it that Koroghlu’s real name was Rovshen. There are very few written sources of information about Koroghlu and his friends. Some researchers say that Koroghlu lived in Azerbaijan, others claim that he was in Khorasan. Another group of people note that he lived in Anatolian land.

Legends and stories about Koroghlu were reflected in the Epic of Koroghlu. Koroglu was introduced as brave warrior, a talented poet and ashug who is the author of a perfect qoshma have been preserved as historical truth in the epos. The majority of names of people (Giziroglu Mustafa bey, Kosa Sefer, Jafar Pasha, Hasan Pasha Etc.) in the epos are historic people. One of the main headquarters of Koroglu was Chenlibel castle (there are many places titled Chenlibel in different regions).

Köroğlu in popular culture

• “Köroğlu” movie by Atıf Yılmaz, 1968: IMDB tt0183368
• “Üç Anadolu Efsanesi” (Three Anatolian Legends) novel of Yaşar Kemal
• “Koroğlu” movie by Əfrasiyab Məmmədov, 1960
• “Koroğlu” movie by Rövşən Almuradlı, 2003
• “Koroğlu” opera by Üzeyir Hacıbəyov

Epic of Koroghlu

The Epic of Koroghlu or Görogly, ( Azerbaijani: Koroğlu dastanı, کوراوغلو دستانی, Короғлу дастаны; Turkish: Köroğlu destanı; Turkmen: Görogly dessany, گوروغلى دسانی, Гөроглы дессаны; Uzbek: Ko‘ro‘g‘li dostoni, Кўрўғли достони, كوروغلى داستانى; Karakalpak: Go’rug’li da’stanı, Гөруғлы дәстаны; Kazakh: Көроғлы, Köroğlı, كٶروعلى; Kyrgyz: Көруулу Султан, Köruulu Sultan, كۅرۇۇلۇ سۇلتان; Tatar: Күругълы, Küruğlı, كوروعلى; Bashkir: Күруғлы, Küruğlı, كوروعلى; Gagauz: Köroglu, Кӧроглу, Κορογλου; Persian: کوراوغلو‎; Tajik: Гӯрғулӣ, Go‘rg‘uli‘; Russian: Кёроглы, Kjorogly ) is a heroic legend prominent in the oral traditions of the Turkic peoples. The legend typically describes a hero who seeks to avenge a wrong. It was often put to music and played at sporting events as an inspiration to the competing athletes. Koroghlu is the main hero of epic with the same name in Azerbaijani, Turkmen and Turkish as well as some other Turkic languages. The epic tells about the life and heroic deeds of Koroghlu as a hero of the people who struggled against unjust rulers. The epic combines the occasional romance with Robin Hood-like chivalry.

Due to the migration in the Middle Ages of large groups of Oghuz Turks within Central Asia, South Caucasus and Asia Minor, and their subsequent assimilation with other ethnic groups, Epic of Koroghlu spread widely in these geographical regions leading to emergence of its Turkmen, Kazakh, Uzbek, Tajik, Azerbaijani, Turkish, Crimean Tatar, Georgian and Kurdish versions. The story has been told for many generations by the “bakhshi” narrators of Turkmenistan, fighter Ashik bards of Azerbaijan and Turkey, and has been written down mostly in the 18th century.